AMD Radeon HD 7950 vs NVIDIA GRID M60-1Q Comparison

Head-to-Head Benchmarks

The benchmark data presents a split comparison: the AMD Radeon HD 7950 was tested with Geekbench Metal, scoring 33,951 points, while the NVIDIA GRID M60-1Q was evaluated with Geekbench Vulkan, scoring 31,220 points. These are different API workloads, so a direct score comparison must be treated cautiously, but the respective percentile placements offer useful context. The HD 7950 sits at the 78th percentile among all GPUs, while the GRID M60-1Q lands at the 76th percentile, a modest gap of two percentile points.

Looking at the HD 7950's nearest rivals, it trails the AMD Radeon RX 480 by a negligible 0.1% (33,997 vs 33,951), and the AMD Radeon RX 560 XT by 0.5% (34,133 vs 33,951). It edges out the AMD Radeon RX 7700S by 0.3% (33,849 vs 33,951) and the NVIDIA RTX A2000 12 GB by 0.6% (34,154 vs 33,951). These deltas are all within a percentage point, indicating the HD 7950's Metal performance is tightly clustered with a broad range of newer cards, from RDNA-based laptops to professional Ampere GPUs.

For the GRID M60-1Q, its Vulkan score of 31,220 places it within 0.4% of the NVIDIA GeForce RTX 4070 Ti SUPER (31,087), a striking result given the generational gap. It essentially matches the NVIDIA Quadro M5000 (31,206, deltaPct 0.0), trails the NVIDIA RTX PRO 4500 Blackwell by 1.0% (31,532 vs 31,220), and falls 1.4% behind the NVIDIA TITAN RTX (31,676 vs 31,220). The GRID card's Vulkan showing is remarkably competitive against these far newer and more expensive parts, though the absolute score is about 8% lower than the HD 7950's Metal number.

The data shows no head-to-head benchmark entries where both cards ran the same test, so there are zero wins for either side in a direct matchup. The only comparable signals are the percentile ranks and the rival deltas, which suggest the HD 7950 holds a slight edge in overall standing relative to its peer group, while the GRID M60-1Q punches well above its weight class in Vulkan-specific workloads.

Where Each One Wins

The AMD Radeon HD 7950 wins in scenarios that favor its Metal API performance and its larger memory footprint. Its Geekbench Metal score of 33,951 puts it in the 78th percentile, and it outperforms the GRID M60-1Q's Vulkan score by 2,731 points, a gap of roughly 8.7%. The 3 GB GDDR5 memory on a 384-bit bus yields 240.0 GB/s of bandwidth, which is substantially higher than the GRID card's 160.4 GB/s. For workloads that are bandwidth-sensitive, such as high-resolution texture streaming or compute tasks that hammer memory, the HD 7950's advantage in throughput is a clear win. Its 1792 shading units and 112 TMUs deliver a texture rate of 89.60 GTexel/s, paired with 32 ROPs for 25.60 GPixel/s.

The NVIDIA GRID M60-1Q wins in raw compute density and API-level feature support. Its Vulkan score of 31,220 places it at the 76th percentile, and its 4.825 TFLOPS of FP32 performance is 68% higher than the HD 7950's 2.867 TFLOPS. The GRID card also doubles the ROP count (64 vs 32) and offers a pixel rate of 75.39 GPixel/s, nearly three times the HD 7950's 25.60 GPixel/s. Its texture rate of 150.8 GTexel/s is 68% higher as well. The 2048 shading units and 128 TMUs exceed the HD 7950's respective counts of 1792 and 112. For fill-rate-bound tasks, or workloads that leverage Vulkan's modern API features, the GRID M60-1Q is the stronger performer. It also supports DirectX 12 (12_1) and Vulkan 1.4, while the HD 7950 is limited to DirectX 12 (11_1) and Vulkan 1.2.170.

The GRID card's base clock of 557 MHz and boost clock of 1178 MHz provide a dynamic range that the HD 7950 lacks entirely, as the latter has no listed base or boost clocks. This means the GRID M60-1Q can scale its performance actively under load, whereas the HD 7950's operating frequency is not documented in the data.

Architecture Differences

The two cards come from different architectural lineages. The AMD Radeon HD 7950 uses the Tahiti chip built on GCN 1.0, part of the Southern Islands generation (HD 7900 series). It is fabricated by TSMC on a 28 nm process, with 4,313 million transistors on a 352 mm² die, yielding a transistor density of 12.3M per mm². The NVIDIA GRID M60-1Q uses the GM204 chip based on Maxwell 2.0, from the GRID (Mx) generation. It is also fabricated by TSMC on 28 nm, but packs 5,200 million transistors onto a 398 mm² die, resulting in a density of 13.1M per mm².

The memory subsystems differ substantially. The HD 7950 has 3 GB of GDDR5 on a 384-bit bus with 240.0 GB/s bandwidth, while the GRID M60-1Q has only 1024 MB of GDDR5 on a 256-bit bus with 160.4 GB/s bandwidth. The GRID card's memory clock is 1253 MHz (5 Gbps effective), nearly identical to the HD 7950's 1250 MHz (5 Gbps effective), but the narrower bus cuts its bandwidth by a third.

Shader and rasterization resources are configured differently. The HD 7950 has 1792 shading units, 112 TMUs, and 32 ROPs. The GRID M60-1Q has 2048 shading units, 128 TMUs, and 64 ROPs. This gives the GRID card a 14% advantage in shader count, a 14% advantage in TMUs, and a 100% advantage in ROPs. The pixel rate gap is even larger: 75.39 GPixel/s vs 25.60 GPixel/s, a 195% difference.

Power and physical design diverge as well. The HD 7950 has a 200 W TDP with 2x 6-pin power connectors, while the GRID M60-1Q has a 225 W TDP with a single 8-pin connector. Both share a dual-slot width and a suggested PSU of 550 W, and both use PCIe 3.0 x16. The HD 7950 is 278 mm (10.9 inches) long, 111 mm (4.4 inches) high, and 38 mm (1.5 inches) wide. The GRID M60-1Q is slightly shorter at 267 mm (10.5 inches), but its height and width are not specified. The HD 7950 has display outputs (1x DVI, 1x HDMI 1.4a, 2x mini-DisplayPort 1.2), while the GRID M60-1Q has no outputs, indicating it is designed for virtualized or headless environments.

API support differs in key areas. The HD 7950 supports DirectX 12 (11_1), OpenGL 4.6, and Vulkan 1.2.170. The GRID M60-1Q supports DirectX 12 (12_1), OpenGL 4.6, and Vulkan 1.4. The GRID card's higher DirectX feature level and newer Vulkan version reflect its Maxwell 2.0 architecture's more modern feature set. The HD 7950's release date is 2012-01-30, making it a Southern Islands-era product, while the GRID M60-1Q was released on 2015-08-29. The HD 7950 has a predecessor (Northern Islands) and successor (Sea Islands), while the GRID M60-1Q has neither listed. The HD 7950 had a launch MSRP of 449 USD; the GRID M60-1Q has no launch MSRP recorded.

FAQ

Q: Which card has higher raw compute throughput?

A: The NVIDIA GRID M60-1Q delivers 4.825 TFLOPS of FP32 performance, which is 68% higher than the AMD Radeon HD 7950's 2.867 TFLOPS.

Q: How do the benchmark scores compare?

A: The HD 7950 scored 33,951 in Geekbench Metal and sits at the 78th percentile, while the GRID M60-1Q scored 31,220 in Geekbench Vulkan and sits at the 76th percentile. The HD 7950's score is 2,731 points higher, but the tests use different APIs.

Q: What is the difference in memory capacity and bandwidth?

A: The HD 7950 has 3 GB of GDDR5 on a 384-bit bus with 240.0 GB/s bandwidth. The GRID M60-1Q has 1024 MB of GDDR5 on a 256-bit bus with 160.4 GB/s bandwidth.

Q: Which card supports newer graphics APIs?

A: The GRID M60-1Q supports DirectX 12 (12_1) and Vulkan 1.4, while the HD 7950 supports DirectX 12 (11_1) and Vulkan 1.2.170. Both support OpenGL 4.6.

Q: Are there any differences in display output capabilities?

A: Yes. The HD 7950 includes 1x DVI, 1x HDMI 1.4a, and 2x mini-DisplayPort 1.2 outputs. The GRID M60-1Q has no display outputs, consistent with a virtualized GPU role.

Q: What are the physical dimensions of each card?

A: The HD 7950 measures 278 mm (10.9 inches) in length, 111 mm (4.4 inches) in height, and 38 mm (1.5 inches) in width. The GRID M60-1Q is 267 mm (10.5 inches) long, with height and width not specified. Both are dual-slot cards.

Specification Differences

| Specification | AMD Radeon HD 7950 | NVIDIA GRID M60-1Q |

|---|---|---|

| Chip | Tahiti | GM204 |

| Architecture | GCN 1.0 | Maxwell 2.0 |

| Generation | Southern Islands (HD 7900) | GRID (Mx) |

| Transistors | 4,313 million | 5,200 million |

| Die Size | 352 mm² | 398 mm² |

| Transistor Density | 12.3M / mm² | 13.1M / mm² |

| Base Clock | Not specified | 557 MHz |

| Boost Clock | Not specified | 1178 MHz |

| Memory Size | 3 GB | 1024 MB |

| Memory Bus Width | 384 bit | 256 bit |

| Memory Bandwidth | 240.0 GB/s | 160.4 GB/s |

| Shading Units | 1792 | 2048 |

| TMUs | 112 | 128 |

| ROPs | 32 | 64 |

| Pixel Rate | 25.60 GPixel/s | 75.39 GPixel/s |

| Texture Rate | 89.60 GTexel/s | 150.8 GTexel/s |

| FP32 Performance | 2.867 TFLOPS | 4.825 TFLOPS |

| TDP | 200 W | 225 W |

| Power Connectors | 2x 6-pin | 1x 8-pin |

| Display Outputs | 1x DVI, 1x HDMI 1.4a, 2x mini-DisplayPort 1.2 | No outputs |

| DirectX Support | 12 (11_1) | 12 (12_1) |

| Vulkan Support | 1.2.170 | 1.4 |

| Length | 278 mm (10.9 inches) | 267 mm (10.5 inches) |

| Height | 111 mm (4.4 inches) | Not specified |

| Width | 38 mm (1.5 inches) | Not specified |

| Release Date | 2012-01-30 | 2015-08-29 |

| Predecessor | Northern Islands | Not specified |

| Successor | Sea Islands | Not specified |

| Launch MSRP | 449 USD | Not specified |

| Geekbench Score | 33,951 (Metal) | 31,220 (Vulkan) |

| Percentile | 78 | 76 |